


Sticks and Stones

by H_W_Star



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: But it's okay, Gen, Haikyuu - Freeform, Some angst, Suga is surprisingly devious, and a protective volleyball fam, bullying references, it's a bad idea to hurt the baby crow, lots of support, pranks as a method of revenge, volleyball dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-11-04
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:06:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8167882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H_W_Star/pseuds/H_W_Star
Summary: Not-really-but-slight-AU in which Hinata was a bit bullied as a little kid (like second grade) when he had no one to protect him or help him. No one knows, but what happens when Hinata's old bully shows up at Karasuno?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> None of these vball dorks belong to me; all ownership goes to Haruichi Furudate (except for the bully; I just kind of had to make him some random guy with a random name, he's a minor character and not that important). This doesn't really have a specific place in the series but definitely takes place after Hinata's and Kageyama's fight during the training camp, and after the training camp as a whole. Thanks for all who stop by for a read, and hope you enjoy.

_“Hinata-chaaaan,” the mocking chorus of voices rings out around the small boy, who looks up at them from under a messy tuft of bright orange hair, wide eyes staring and starting to water. Hands reach out and prod him in the ribs, in his side, making the boy grimace in discomfort. Arms extend and push him against a wall, a mass of bodies seeming to grow larger and taller before him, cutting off all possible escape routes._

_“Stop…” he mumbles feebly, in a soft and small voice that no one hears, or pretends not to. He tries shaking his head, indicating no. Why won’t they stop? He hugs his arms around himself and tucks his head down, pretending he’s not here. He has gotten very good at pretend. Though he still hears their voices._

_“What if he tells?”_

_“He won’t tell.” A laugh. “What can he do? He’s too small and short to do anything. He’s just a little wimp.”_

_The boy tucks his head down tighter. He wishes hard to disappear._

~~~

Hinata was racing down the hall, once again late for one of his classes. He had been speaking with a few of his classmates in the corridor, unaware that he was rapidly using up the meager five minutes allotted for students to transfer from one class to the next. He had walked to grab his things, spotted the clock, and realized with a jolt that he was going to be late.

Thus due to his intense concentration on getting to his classroom as he was flying down the hall, he wasn’t really paying attention to his surroundings. So it was no surprise when he ran headfirst into not a wall—which was the usual obstruction—but an actual student. Hinata fell backwards, landing on his backside.

“Ahh, sorry…” he said, rubbing his back and looking up to see whom he had collided with.

Hinata felt his blood run cold. The hard dark eyes, stern expression, and slightly spiked hair, although not the exact same as Hinata remembered, were unmistakable. The owner of these features looked down at him, merely snorted in response, and continued on his way. Hinata remained frozen to his spot on the floor, unable to move for a few moments.

“Hinata,” an annoyed voice came from a little further down the hall, and his teacher’s head poked out from the doorway. “You’re late. Hurry up and take your seat.”

“S-sorry,” Hinata managed, and picked himself up off the ground to dash into his classroom. He wasn’t able to pay much attention during the lesson (not that he usually was on any other day), and spent the majority of it staring off into space, fixated on what happened. Yet eventually he was stirred from his thoughts by the cacophonous screeching of chairs and slamming of books that indicated the end of class. Shaking his head, he stood up, collected his things and walked out, but not without a furtive glance around the hall outside.

“Oi, dumbass,” the familiar voice came from behind him. Hinata turned and was met with Kageyama’s irritated face. He tried to recall what he had done in the recent past to earn the setter’s annoyance. He didn’t have to, though, since Kageyama did it for him.

“You better not be as out of it during today’s practice as you were yesterday. We kept messing up, all because you weren’t focusing.”

“Hey, I was tired yesterday. And it was a long practice,” Hinata whined. Kageyama just offered a “hmph” in response as the two boys made their way down the hall.

“Do you know if any new students recently transferred here?” Hinata asked, and Kageyama stared at him, surprised by both the sudden and random nature of the question.

“How should I know? It’s not like I know every student in the school.”

“I’m not saying I think you’re on the welcoming committee or anything,” Hinata replied, slighty annoyed. “I just wanted to know if you’d heard anything.” When he didn’t hear a response, Hinata turned to look at Kageyama, and saw his friend drinking milk he had (at some point) gotten from the machine. Thus he only got a head shake from Kageyama in answer.

“Maybe one of the second or third years knows,” Hinata said, more to himself. Kageyama shrugged. As if in answer, Hinata caught sight of Tanaka walking down the hall, and he waved his teammate over.

“Hey Hinata, Kageyama,” he greeted. “What’s up?”

“Do you know anything about a new transfer student to Karasuno?”

For a moment Tanaka considered, then nodded. “Yea, actually, now that you mention it. He’s a second-year, came here a few days ago; average height, build, etcetera. But a real jerk. Got a nasty attitude to boot. I don’t like the guy.”

“Do you know his name?”

“Hmm,” Tanaka’s expression mirrored that of a student trying to work through a complicated math proof. “I only have one class with him, but I think his name might be Yoshida.” He nodded. “Yea, Yoshida Ren.”

~~~

_“Come on. We’re gonna be late for class.”_

_“Yoshida, what about him?” The boy feels a sharp nudge in his side, most likely from a sneaker._

_“What about him? I told you, he’s not gonna do anything. Leave him, let’s go.” Footsteps. Getting quieter. But then, getting louder once more. He feels a sharp pressure, and he is being dragged up by his hair. Dark eyes stare into his, and the boy feels a shiver of fear._

_“But we’re not done.” He glares hard, for what seems like a lifetime._

_“Yoshidaaa.” A faint voice from far away. The dark eyes are no longer staring as their owner walks away, responding to the call of the far-away voice. The boy leans against the wall, sinking down to the floor, trying to make his already small frame even smaller._

~~~

“…ata. Oi, Hinata!” Kageyama’s voice was loud and jolted the shorter boy. Hinata shook his head.

“Ah, thanks, Tanaka.”

The older boy grinned, apparently oblivious to Hinata’s zoning out seconds before. “No problem. Hope I helped. But I gotta get to class; I’ve already been late three times today, and my teachers are not the most patient people to begin with. See ya at practice.” With that, he took off down the hall, waving goodbye to the two.

“Hey.” Kageyama turned to Hinata. “What’s up with you?” Hinata looked up at him.

“What?”

“What happened just now? You looked…I don’t know, in a shock or something.”

Hinata shook his head, laughing a little breathily. “I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.” He looked around, grabbing Kageyama’s arm. “Come on; Tanaka was right, we’re going to be late if we don’t hurry up.”

The two boys walked with increased speed in the direction of their class.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a continuation from the first chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing and no one (unless you want to count the bully). As always, thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy.

 

                Hinata was acting weird; that much was obvious. Yet it was more than just his naturally weird—and oftentimes irritating—behavior. He seemed continually distracted, fixated on something that Kageyama couldn’t distinguish. At random times, throughout the day, almost every day, Hinata would freeze up or stiffen, like he had been suddenly submerged in ice water, and after a moment or two would simply shake his head or laugh it off and say it was nothing. But at practice Karasuno’s decoy was perfectly fine. He played in his usual way; in his usual, occasionally frustrating way.

                Of course that didn’t mean the energetic redhead was okay. Kageyama grimaced. Despite having only played together for a little less than a year, they had been teammates and duo partners long enough to at least have some sense of what was going on with each other. Thus Kageyama had been able to easily pick up on the fact that something was not entirely right with his friend, and said friend’s odd behavior only served to further convince him of the fact.

                This was why today Kageyama had decided to follow Hinata around the school (when he wasn’t already with him by default). The only issue was that Kageyama had never been very good with operating incognito. Fortunately for him, though, today Hinata was once again not very observant of his surroundings, too focused on getting to class on time for a change.

                Kageyama watched his friend, who was only visible by the orange tuft bobbing amongst the other heads of students. The setter was aiming for the ‘casual’ look, and failing. He had a free period this class, and had assumed a position by the water fountain, pretending to read some notes (he had just been staring at a blank piece of lined paper). But right now his gaze was following Hinata as he moved down the hall. Suddenly the orange tuft halted, and Kageyama immediately began to move closer, trying to obtain a vantage point from where he could see Hinata’s face. After a few more steps Kageyama had a clear view, and followed Hinata’s line of sight to a boy farther down the hall. He looked to be an older boy (Kageyama thus assumed he was a second or third year), with pointy hair and dark eyes. He watched as Hinata’s face drained of color and his eyes widened a little, but relaxed as soon as the older boy walked into a classroom.

                Kageyama frowned. The boy, while slightly older, hadn’t looked big or even very tall; he didn’t understand why Hinata had reacted in such a strong way, why the short redhead had seemed so _afraid._ Unable to conduct any further investigation, he returned to his spot and tried to do some actual work…but still ended up staring once more at a blank sheet of paper.

**~~~**

                “Oi, Hinata.” They had been walking to the gym in silence, though not one of an awkward nature, when Kageyama decided to broach the subject of what he had seen earlier that day. Hinata looked over at him, waiting for Kageyama to continue.

                “Uh…” the setter started. Now that he actually had an opportunity to mention it to Hinata, he didn’t actually know how to begin. He cleared his throat and tried again. “So, today, you seemed a little…odd in the hallway. Like you had seen something that freaked you out.” Hinata continued to stare at him. _I didn’t really ask a question_ , Kageyama thought with slight annoyance at himself. He struggled for a third attempt.

                “You just seemed kind of out of it. Is something wrong?”

                Hinata blinked at him. Then responded, “Nope.” Then came that irritating laugh, irritating only because Kageyama knew his friend was using it to cover something up. _Dammit, Hinata, what the hell,_ he growled mentally. But at the rate they were going, they were probably going to be late to practice.

                Hinata seemed to have the same idea. “Race you the rest of the way!” he hollered, and took off at a mad dash before Kageyama even had a chance to respond.

                “Dumbass Hinata!” he yelled after him, and sprinted to catch up, his concern temporarily put aside.

**~~~**

                It was the next day, and one of the classes Hinata and Kageyama had together had just ended. They were gathering their books and getting ready to walk out into the hall; Kageyama exited first, Hinata behind him. Yet before the shorter boy crossed the threshold, his gaze darted back and forth down each end of the hall, the way in which someone crossing a busy street would look. Deeming the coast clear, Hinata stepped out into the hall. Kageyama decided he had had enough, and dragged his friend roughly by the arm into one of the smaller corridors. Hinata looked up at the tall setter quizzically. Kageyama crossed his arms.

                “All right. What the hell is up with you. Tell me right now.”

                “Um.” Hinata’s gaze flicked around for a moment then returned to Kageyama’s face. “What?”

                “Stop trying to play it off as nothing. Something is going on with you, and you’ve been acting weirder than usual lately. I can tell something is up. So tell me what’s wrong.”

                Hinata rubbed the back of his neck nervously and laughed weakly. “Seriously, Kageyama, nothing’s going o--”

                “Hinata.” He stared pointedly at the smaller boy. “Stop. It.” He didn’t say anything after that, resolving to let Hinata take it from there. Hinata continued to look around the room, but this time focusing on anything that wasn’t a certain tall, dark-haired setter. Then, he sighed. It was a deep, long, heavy sigh which Kageyama hadn’t ever heard from him before.  

                “Fine,” he said quietly, head hung low. Kageyama realized that for the first time he wasn’t dealing with the upbeat, energetic volleyball player he was used to. This was an entirely different Hinata, and it certainly got Kageyama’s attention.  Hinata sighed again.

                “Look, I…” he tried, but trailed off. He looked up at Kageyama. “No one knows about this. I’ve never told anyone. So just…”

                “I’m not here to judge you,” Kageyama said quietly. Hinata held his friend’s gaze for a moment.

                “Okay.” He seemed to be gathering himself, then began a second time. “When I was in second grade, there was this big scary kid. He was really tall, and intimidated the other kids a lot, including me. And of course, I was shorter than really anyone else and so it felt even worse when he looked down at me. His look made me want to curl up and hide.” Hinata rubbed his arm self-consciously. _He’s actually opening up to me_ , Kageyama thought, amazed. But he didn’t say a word, just let Hinata continue.  

                “It was about two months into the school year when the bullying started. At first I just thought that I had been caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he came over to me again the next day. There was this group of kids that followed him around, too, and they were always with him when he bullied me. It wasn’t anything really serious; they just pushed me a lot, poked me sometimes, cornered me all the time…it was just really scary. I was afraid all the time. They never failed to remind me that I was too weak, or small, or short to do anything or fight back at all.” He let out something that fell between a bitter laugh and a light sob. “And they weren’t wrong. I never was able to do a thing. I didn’t even tell anyone; I was too scared. The only reason it stopped was because he transferred to a different school near the end of third grade. Then, everything was fine and I just…continued on with my life, I guess.” Then he smiled. “And it’s actually been really great. K-Kageyama?”

                His friend, who had been listening intensely, was now almost visibly seething. Hinata regarded him with wide eyes, shaking a little because of his friend’s extremely angry look.

                Kageyama’s fists were clenched tightly, and his teeth were gritted. Despite Hinata being annoying or difficult at times, they were still friends and teammates, and hearing about how Hinata was treated during his childhood—the extent to which he was bullied—had made Kageyama more and more outraged with each detail.

                “I can’t believe this,” he ground out in a low voice. “How could someone take advantage of your vulnerability like that? Wait.” Kageyama suddenly froze. “That Yoshida guy--” Hinata flinched at the name “—is he that main bully?” Hinata looked down, which was all the answer Kageyama needed. _And this partially explains why he used to be so scared of big, tall guys,_ Kageyama thought with a jolt. Thinking of the spiky-haired boy he had seen in the hallway, now knowing what that kid had done to Hinata, further infuriated him. He straightened abruptly.

                In a very low, very calm voice he said, “I’m going to go talk to him.”

                Hinata blanched. “No!” he nearly shouted, “Kageyama don’t. You can’t. Don’t do anything.”

                Kageyama looked at him questioningly. “Why not? Don’t you want him to be taught a lesson?” _But really, what would I know,_ Kageyama thought, _I’ve never been bullied before._

                “It’s just…” Kageyama looked up at the sound of Hinata’s voice. “If you did something, it would probably only make him mad at me. Or you. Even though I’m not sure whether or not he remembers me, if you went up to him and started bringing all this up again and threatening him and all that, I…I’m afraid of what will happen.” Kageyama blinked.

                “Oh.” He hadn’t realized it had affected Hinata this much. “Okay. I won’t go talk to him, then.”

                Hinata gave a small smile. “Thanks, Kageyama.” Kageyama only nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation from second chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of these adorable dorks are mine, all belong to Haruichi Furudate (again, the bully I just had to make up for the purpose of the story). Thanks for stopping by for a read, and I hope you enjoy.  
> Also sorry if the ending is a little cheesy.  
> (I might write a fourth chapter, but that may depend. I'm not sure.)

Daichi and Suga were just getting out of class when they were met with the sight of Kageyama standing stiffly across the hall. They exchanged a brief look, although neither seemed to know what the first year was doing there. Suga gave a slight shrug, then walked across the hall, Daichi behind him.

                “Hey, Kageyama,” he said with a warm smile. “What’s going on?”

                “I need to talk to you. Well, actually, the whole team, but without Hinata.” Once more Daichi and Suga looked at each other.

                “What?” Daichi asked.

                “Something’s been…going on with Hinata, and I need the team’s help, but Hinata can’t know about it. At least not right now.”

                “Okay…” the captain said slowly. “Okay. I’ll work something out.” Kageyama nodded, and briefly bowed.

                “Thank you,” he said before turning around and running off back down the hall.

                “That was strange,” Suga remarked, watching as Kageyama’s figure got smaller the further he ran down the hall. Daichi nodded.

                “Yes it was. But I suppose we’ll hear more about it this afternoon.”

**~~~**

                That day at the beginning of practice Daichi asked Hinata if he could run down to Takeda’s office and pick up a few forms (a job that Daichi knew would take at least a solid fifteen minutes). During this time, Kageyama explained the whole situation to the team. He told them about Hinata’s strange behavior for the past few days, then briefly summarized that Hinata had been bullied as a little kid, and that his bully was actually the new transfer student.

                “That Yoshida guy?” Tanaka had burst out. Kageyama nodded. “That asshole.”

                Everyone’s expressions showed surprise and a touch of sadness, except for Tanaka and Noya, who were about as angered and fired up—if not more—as Kageyama had been the first time he heard about it. They both looked positively furious. Daichi and Suga were horrified anyone would ever hurt Hinata like that, as was Asahi; though the tall ace voiced that he didn’t know how he could help (to which Tanaka and Noya fiercely replied they could use his height and general appearance as an intimidation tactic). Ennoshita, Narita, and Kinoshita all had sympathetic looks on their faces, and also voiced that they would help with anything. Tsukishima was his usual indifferent self, but his brow was slightly narrowed, indicating he too was bothered by the situation. But the most striking reaction was that of Yamaguchi, who looked in that moment extremely empathetic. He had been bullied as a kid as well, and badly, so he understood what Hinata felt and said that he would be there if Hinata needed to talk about it with someone who had been in that situation. Kageyama was very glad to be met with such support from the team; although to be honest he hadn’t expected anything different. 

                Yet they still had to figure out what to do about it. They all seemed to be in agreement in that some form of retribution had to be carried out, and a few moments of silence passed before Tsukki suggested that they play a series of pranks on the guy. Surprisingly, the team seemed to be in favor of this.

                “It’s harmless and non-abusive physically, and also isn’t bullying in return for bullying,” Suga said as they were working out a plan. With a glance to Tanaka and Noya he added, “And it’ll also keep some of our more _spirited_ members safe from legal consequences.” Daichi chuckled.

                “I agree,” the captain said. “It’s a good way to get back at someone without physically harming them or bullying them back. Furthermore, as it is my understanding that this boy is not the nicest or most respectful person, this may help initiate an attitude adjustment.” Everyone nodded. “So what kind of pranks should we employ?”

                “We could use whoopee cushions,” Tanaka said, and Noya nodded energetically.

                “We could put embarrassing items in his locker,” Tsukki added.

                “I once heard about a prank involving cheese powder mixed with water to look like orange juice,” Yamaguchi piped in. “It looked really gross.”  This prompted a few laughs.

                “Or, we could go from a more embarrassing angle,” Suga said. “What’s one of the most embarrassing things for a teenage boy? Having his mother show up in front of his friends or at his school. If we could somehow get his mother to come to the school, and maybe make some kind of embarrassing announcement, that would be really effective.”

                “Damn Suga,” Tanaka said with a sly grin, “you don’t mess around.” The setter just smiled.

                “This sounds good,” Kageyama said. “I think this is going to work. Thanks.”

                “Thanks for what?” They all turned around to see Hinata walking back into the gym, forms in hand. He passed them off to Daichi.

                “For being awesome people,” Noya said with a smile. Hinata grinned.

                “Well,” he said, “we are pretty great.”

                “Mm,” Daichi agreed, ruffling Hinata's hair a bit, “and we always look out for one another.” To this, everyone nodded thoroughly and meaningfully. Hinata beamed.  


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bonus, "cut" scene, that occurs in between Chapters 2 & 3\. Again, neither of these two belong to me. If you have stuck with the story this long, thank you, and as always, hope you enjoy. :)

There was a moment of semi-awkward silence between the two following Kageyama's vow to not speak to Hinata's bully. The corridor seemed darker, and smaller than when Kageyama had first dragged his friend into it. Kageyama, not very familiar with situations like this, didn't exactly know what to do. He could tell there was a tempest of thoughts raging in Hinata's mind, but the shorter boy wasn't saying anything and didn't look like he was about to. Kageyama cleared his throat, attempting to break the silence that was swiftly entering into the territory of completely awkward, but did so in a way that tickled his throat, leaving him in a coughing fit. Hinata looked up and almost laughed, but instead just let a weak smile play on his lips. 

"Um..." Kageyama attempted, once he had recovered, "if you want me to do anything else, um, I can." He mentally kicked himself for sounding so pathetically bland and insincere. 

Hinata looked like he was about to speak, but then suddenly a tear slipped unbidden down his cheek, and as he raised his arm to wipe it away with the back of his hand his shoulders began to shake slightly. This Kageyama certainly did not know how to handle, but he could very clearly see his friend was in distress and was probably feeling some degree of loss as to what to do. So without really thinking, Kageyama took a step forward and hugged him. 

Hinata's eyes widened slightly behind the shield of his arm as he felt the light weight of an embrace. Kageyama had never hugged him before. Kageyama had never hugged anyone before. He had never even patted Hinata on the back before. Yet now here he was, hugging Hinata lightly, not saying anything, just...hugging him in a one-armed light embrace. Despite Kageyama's silence, Hinata understood the message just fine. Kageyama would figure something out. He would find a way to make things okay once more, would put an end to the nightmare Hinata was reliving. And for the first time since Hinata had spotted his bully, he felt comforted. 


End file.
